


strong enough to break your fall, should you fall

by androids_fighting93



Series: never let me go [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Blowjobs, Communication, First Time, M/M, Merle is mentioned but not really there, Miscommunication, Nightmares, Polyamory, angsty cuddling, bed sharing, brief description of a panic attack and just general anxiety, his is my first fic in liiiike 5 years and i am Anxious my friends, like just so much cuddling?, taako has two hands, taako loves both his boys???? so much???, very brief implied taako/sazed but it's just one sentence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 08:29:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12165216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/androids_fighting93/pseuds/androids_fighting93
Summary: It began before they had ever met Kravitz, before the Bureau even, he didn’t even catch feels for Magnus for a while but it felt inevitable when it turned into something more. They never talk about it during the day. But now Kravitz is a thing, and that’s like two planes colliding, Taako has no idea how to reconcile the two, he just wants everything too much.(Or; Taako is bad at feelings but good at snuggling.)





	strong enough to break your fall, should you fall

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: This is officially part of a series! Wowie! If you like it, consider subscribing! 
> 
> Whoa! First post on AO3! Gotta say, I never thought that a Dungeons and Dragons podcast would be the thing to drag me kicking and screaming back into fandom. I haven't written fic since I wrote for Glee (calling myself the fuck OUT right now) and this is the most self-indulgent thing I've ever written, not sorry. I don't know what happened here my dudes, I just wanted to write about some cuddly boys and now it's over 10k words. Help, I've fallen and I can't get up.
> 
> It gets a lil smutty toward the end there, I hope it doesn't feel shoehorned in or anything. I wasn't sure about including it but it seemed right, so. There's that.
> 
> This might turn into a little series, thought I don't know how long it'll be or how often. I just have a lot of feelings about these three boys loving each other a whole lot.
> 
> Title is from Violet Clementine by Lady Lamb not because it has anything to do with this story but because I have it on repeat and I can't stop.

So of course he goes out with Kravitz again.

Oh, he waits a decent amount of time before calling him up, even though there’s a teeny part of Taako that, even after everything with the umbrastaff and his date – they don’t call it a date, but it’s such a date - freaking out about a lich or whatever the hell that was about, as he’s getting ready to settle in for the night, just really wants to activate the stone of far speech. Kravitz had been gone about an hour at most. Taako collapses on his bed – he can’t remember the last time he made it, it’s a lumpy wreck of blankets and throw pillows – and, Istus help him, presses his face into a pillow and giggles.

Boy howdy.

He can try to blame it on still being a little wine drunk, but Taako’s not fooling himself, Kravitz is the most ridiculously attractive man he’s ever met, Grim Reaper and out for his soul notwithstanding, and he’s awkward and weird and fun and _he had a lovely evening._

He intends to wait a respectable three days before calling Kravitz but Taako has never claimed to be respectable, so two days later he’s calling to set up another date, maybe off the moon this time, a walk around Neverwinter would be romantic, right?

And he learns that Kravitz is terrible at keeping his composure, clearly, because he can’t hide that he’s delighted to hear from Taako, stammering his way through an explanation that he had been meaning to call and ask if Taako would accompany him to the opera later that week. His exact words.

Boy _fucking_ howdy, nothing about that isn’t a legit date, and Taako is so manic after that phone call that Merle throws a shoe at him from his room because he’s making so much noise crashing around their kitchen. He still makes too much and throws out what he makes before anyone but himself can eat it, old habits die hard even if he knows the truth now, but. Baby steps.

Kravitz kisses his cheek through the portal he tears in reality, and his lips are so cold they leave Taako’s face numb, and he says, nervously but in a low voice that Taako is already just obsessed with, “I really hope we can do this again.”

Merle and Magnus, of course, come in then and ruin the moment, he hadn’t meant for them to know, wanted something just for himself for now. Merle teased him relentlessly but instantly forgave Kravitz for the whole arm situation with an “Aw, I’ve already forgotten the whole thing,” which, that might actually be true, Taako isn’t entirely sure? But he’s just glad his boys aren’t killing each other on sight. Magnus just sort of looks at him, brow furrowed in concern, and Taako can’t quite look him in the eye, he doesn’t want to think about it yet, he’s gonna ride this high all night.

He keeps touching his cheek where Kravitz kissed him as he tries and fails to meditate that night, imagining that tingle of feeling returning to his skin again and again.

* * *

“So you’re like, seeing him.”

“Yes, Mags.”

“Like dating.”

“This is why I like you, darling, you’re so astute.” Taako rolls his eyes, not looking up from his frying pan. It’s after midnight and the smell of garlic rises from the stove and makes Taako’s stomach turn. Magnus is sitting at the table while he cooks, neither of them even trying to sleep. “When two adults like each other very much -”

“Okay, but he did try to kill us? I’m just trying to make sure you’re okay, man,” Magnus says, punctuated with a yawn. There are dark circles under his eyes, _how long has it been since he really slept_? Taako wonders. Since Refuge? The fact that he doesn’t know hits him suddenly, and all the guilt that comes with it, but it’s not like Magnus always has issues sleeping, not the way Taako does, so how was he supposed to know? Obviously he wasn’t. But still.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Taako says, poking at the chicken with his spatula. He hasn’t transmuted any of the ingredients. That was never a problem. It wasn’t him. It will be fine. It will be fine.

“We had a bounty on our heads, maybe he’s trying to collect.”

“No, we’re cool. I worked all that out. Going out with him was just a bonus.” Taako glances back at Magnus and grins. “We’re having fun, it doesn’t – that’s all it needs to be, you know?”

That doesn’t sound right and he knows it. Yeah, they’re having fun, Taako likes spending time with him, for sure. Kravitz is just… he’s just lovely, that’s the first word that comes to mind. Maybe it’s more than just a fun time, maybe he’s allowed to want that?

 _Don’t get your hopes up,_ his thoughts turn bitter. The scent of garlic bites at him.

“Good,” Magnus says, and Taako raises his eyebrows. He can’t tell if Magnus is being serious, or teasing him, or if he’s upset, or…

“Is it?”

“If you’re happy, sure. Why not?”

“Why not,” Taako echoes, that should make him happy, but he can only focus on the shadows under Magnus’s eyes. He shakes his head, turning back to the stove, Magnus is too good for his own good, it’s going to get him hurt. It probably already has.

The chicken is cooked perfectly. It looks amazing on the plate. Taako stares down at it, his head aches, he realizes suddenly that he’s grinding his teeth, and that’s a habit he hasn’t had since… Sazed had always gotten on him about the teeth grinding. Taako had asked Magnus once if he noticed Taako grinding his teeth in his sleep, he’d said no, never, and now it’s back and Taako wants to scream.

“It smells great,” Magnus comes up behind him, looking at the two plates of fucking flawless thirty garlic clove chicken, his mouth watering as he hovers over the counter. Taako shakes his head and scoops up the plates, dumping their contents down the sink. When he was a kid cooking for adventurers and traveling bards he had never wasted food, not a single bite, even molding vegetables were salvaged for whatever he could use, you never know when your belly will be empty and you’ll be longing for that last bite of soup you didn’t think you had room for. Sometimes - a lot of the time - he doesn't like the person he is now.

“It’s all wrong,” he mumbles. “Can’t let you eat that.”

“Why do you keep doing this to yourself, man?” Magnus asks. Taako wraps his arms around himself, eyes closed.

“I’ll make you pancakes or something. Just not fucking chicken.”

“It’s okay. Let’s just go to sleep, yeah?” He lays his hand on Taako’s shoulder, solid and warm, and Taako leans into him, into his warmth, laying his head down on Magnus’s arm. Some emotion he won’t put a name to rises in his throat, chokes him, it’s late and there’s no one around but them but this feels so public, standing here in the kitchen with Magnus holding him, too close to the way Magnus holds him in the dark of his bedroom on those nights when neither of them can sleep without another body beside them. And it isn’t that he’s _ashamed_ , just that he’s afraid. He breaks away, starts cleaning up the kitchen, and Magnus lets him go. If he looks disappointed Taako doesn’t see, doesn’t meet his eyes.

Magnus knows, of course. About Glamour Springs and the vision the Chalice had shown him. He’d felt obligated to tell him when Magnus told him all about Julia, late one night when they weren’t sleeping, and Magnus had cried and wondered if he should have used the Chalice.

“No,” Taako had snapped, and grabbed his hand. “No. You can’t fuckin’ think like that.”

“But I could have saved her – “

“Then you would have never come to Neverwinter and taken that stupid job and I’d still be fucking alone and we wouldn’t be here so don’t… just don’t. ”

And Magnus had wiped his tears and nodded before pulling Taako into his arms, and they just stayed like that for a while, holding each other, and Taako thought of the people he had killed ( _it wasn’t me it wasn’t me it wasn’t_ ) and wondered what the world would look like now if he had taken that stupid cup.

* * *

 

The thing about dying - and actually getting to remember it - is it’s actually fucking traumatizing, and Taako doesn’t look forward to the years working that business out. Or repressing it, which is far more likely.

He hasn’t gotten a full night of meditation since getting back from Refuge, and he certainly hasn’t tried to  _sleep,_ something elves don’t actually need to do but that he enjoys. It’s stupid because his days are fine. He can fill up his time with training, studying his spellbook, giving Angus his lessons, he doesn’t have to think about it then. At night he lays there, eyes wide open and looking at the stars through his window, and if he isn’t remembering burning and being crushed and eaten alive and ripped apart every time he tries to close his eyes, he’s thinking about Sazed, or Phandolin burning. One night he goes through his closet and turns every t-shirt he owns into sleeveless crop tops, but unfortunately that only fills about an hour and he’s back to square one. He wants desperately, in a way he had numbed himself to before the Chalice showed him the truth, to fill his nights with cooking again, but it’s still so hard.

It’s hard to even want to fall into his trance because he’ll probably wake up screaming, and it’s so exhausting to come down from a panic attack, no matter how much practice he has with it, he’ll feel sick all the next day, better not to give himself the opportunity.

Tonight he gives it a couple of hours before he decides _fuck it_ and throws his pants back on, leaving his room.

He knows for a fact that Magnus hasn’t been sleeping either. He doesn’t know if it’s the dying or what the Chalice showed him or just the usual not being able to cope with the shit they’ve seen and done, he just knows that the only way Magnus has been sleeping is when he stays out training until he’s too physically exhausted to stay awake, sometimes just collapsing on the couch when he finally wanders back in. Taako will grab a blanket to lay over Magnus, who mumbles a thank you and reaches out to take Taako’s hand, just a quick squeeze, before he passes out.

So he knows Magnus’s light will be on when he goes to his room, knows he won’t be keeping him up when he enters without knocking. They aren’t new to this dance. It’s the first thing he thinks of, these nights when he can’t keep from dreaming.

Magnus is reading something, some kind of scroll, when Taako shuts the door behind him, but he doesn’t seem to be taking in whatever’s on it, his eyes sort of glazed over. The sound of the door makes him finally blink, and he hurriedly rolls the scroll back up and sets it on his crowded bedside table.

“Whatcha reading, big guy?” Taako asks, leaning back against the door with his arms crossed. 

“It’s nothing,” Magnus says, a little too quickly, but Taako doesn’t push. Magnus doesn’t take well to pushing, he just closes up more, and Taako gets that better than most people. Magnus offers him a tired smile. “Can’t sleep either, huh?”

“I don’t sleep,” Taako says flippantly. He absolutely does sleep, when he gets the chance, because it’s fun, but he rarely feels safe enough to do it. At least he can get himself out of meditation, but you never know if a dream is real or not until you wake up.

“Meditate, whatever.”

Taako shrugs, it’s a stupid question and they both know it. “Scoot,” Taako says, flopping down on the bed, halfway on top of Magnus as he scoots over closer to the wall. There’s kind of a weird moment of tension, but it passes, and Taako hesitates only a second before he lays his head on Magnus’s broad shoulder, tension he didn’t know he was holding releasing as he’s enveloped in Magnus’s warmth. Magnus is like a human furnace, he just radiates heat, nothing like Kravitz’s icy chill, he breathes and his blood flows but it’s all for show, all cold, it’s actually impossible to forget his boyfriend is a dead guy.

He didn’t mean to think of Kravitz now, and he shakes his head to clear it, there’s a clear delineation between that and… this. Whatever the hell this is. Has to be. They’ve never labeled it, it’s better that way, probably, maybe.

It began before they had ever met Kravitz, before the Bureau even, because Taako cannot stand sleeping alone most of the time, it’s something he’s never understood because he’s always been alone so he doesn’t know why he’s so desperate for contact, to feel another person touching him, he’s supposed to be aloof or whatever but his gay little heart is always betraying him. Magnus had noticed Taako’s sleeplessness and offered to cuddle, saying it always helped him if he couldn’t sleep, and at first Taako had been freaked out – what did Magnus get out of this, was he going to cop a feel, what was this – but he also knew Magnus was a good guy and, frustrated and tired, he eventually dragged his sleeping bag over. He woke up with Magnus spooning him, and had never slept as well.

He didn’t even catch feels for Magnus for a while, it really was just cuddling, he doesn’t understand why his body wants so badly to be near someone else’s. But it felt inevitable when it turned into something more, when it occurred to him how far he could try to push this, that maybe Mags wasn’t as straight as he’d originally thought. The first time Magnus kissed him it was spur of the moment and Magnus had panicked, thinking he was taking advantage of Taako somehow, at which Taako had laughed. “Oh, hon, as if you could ever make me do something I don’t want,” he’d said, and he certainly did want.

But they never talk about it during the day, close as they are, close as family, they never bring it up. So far it’s worked. But now Kravitz is a thing, and Magnus obviously knows that and has said pretty much nothing about it, and that’s like two planes colliding, Taako has no idea how to reconcile the two.

Magnus’s callused fingers stroke lightly up Taako’s freckled arm, making him shiver a little. “It’ll get easier,” he says, and Taako can feel his voice rumbling in his chest as he wriggles closer. “Just takes time.”

“Sure,” Taako murmurs, thinking that Magnus is trying to convince himself more than Taako, but that’s so like him. Looking out for everyone but himself even when he isn’t okay either. Taako lifts his head and gives Magnus one of his patented flirty, crooked grins, he doesn’t want to talk about it, maybe Magnus gets off on talking about feelings and shit but Taako is all about repression. “Sooo? Gonna give me a goodnight kiss?” He teases. It’s too easy, and fun, to make Magnus blush.

“I didn’t know if you wanted me to,” Magnus says – bitterly? Taako can’t tell, it’s not that he’s bad at reading people, it’s just that with Magnus he second guesses and triple guesses every gesture. “I figured Kravitz was taking care of that now.”

Taako stiffens, smile falling, he really hadn’t expected that to come up, not here, he just wanted the both of them to finally get some rest, now he realizes that he hasn’t come to Magnus’s bed nearly as much since he started spending so much time with Kravitz.

But this thing with Magnus is different. It’s separate from that. Magnus hasn’t often asked about the guys Taako tries to go out with, not recently so much but earlier in their adventures, before the Bureau. It hasn’t mattered, Taako is always going to end up here, in Magnus Burnsides’ bed, regardless. He didn’t think they would talk about it now.

 _You’re going to fuck this up. You were always going to_.

Maybe not, he argues with himself, trying to stop himself from panicking. Maybe Magnus can sense, like Taako is beginning to, that Kravitz might be different, that he isn’t going to get whatever he wants from Taako quick and then never come back around, that as terrifying as it sounds this could _be_ something. Does that make him replace Magnus somehow, does Magnus think Taako doesn’t want him anymore? He recoils against that, Magnus isn’t someone you replace.

Magnus takes Taako’s silence as being upset, and he says, “Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to sound so mean, I just meant -”

“We can just sleep,” Taako mumbles, he’s suddenly far too tired for any conversation, this one or otherwise. “It’s whatever you want.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, man.”

“What _way_ \- listen, no offense, but you’re literally the last person I want to talk to about Kravitz.”

“Jeez. Alright.” Magnus throws his hands up. “Sorry for giving a shit.”

“Why?” He doesn’t know why he’s snapping, why he gets so mean when something scares him, stupid Taako, stupid stupid stupid. “Not like he’s gonna to kill me, you still have your wizard around, why else should you give a fuck about it?”

“Uh, maybe because I care about you?”

“Oh don’t fret, baby, you still get to fuck me.”

He shapes his words into barbs, but he’s somehow shocked when they cut. Magnus splutters, scandalized, turning beet red looking away, mumbling something Taako doesn’t quite catch, and he feels so fucking awful that he has to run, has to get out of this room, before he makes it worse like he always does.

* * *

He forgoes sleeping that night, and the next, staying up most of the night trying to cook and failing which just makes him feel worse. He’s exhausted. Magnus avoids him, looking so hurt whenever Taako catches his gaze, and the words _I’m sorry, I’m so stupid, please talk to me_ rise in his throat but he can’t get himself to just say it, they’ll have to _talk_ and he’s so bad at that, chances are he’ll only make things worse.

The second night he gives in to loneliness and calls Kravitz up to the moon base, long after the rest of the moon has fallen asleep, knowing he should go ahead and break up with him or at least tell him why this is so complicated, not sure how to even begin. He brings a bottle of wine with him and they walk under the night sky, the dome clear to show the stars, it’s romantic as fuck, if Taako does say so himself, even if he’s a little chilly because he no longer owns anything but crop tops.

He takes Kravitz to a wooded area that a druid who lives up here on the base maintains, it’s crazy realistic, the noise of the rest of the base doesn’t seem to reach it. Somewhere tucked away in there Merle is maintaining a little shrine to Pan, but Taako hasn’t gone looking for it. He’s quiet as they walk under the trees, letting Kravitz fill the silence by talking about his day. He holds Kravitz’s hand, and it’s not that he doesn’t want to be with him because he 100% does, but he wishes that Magnus was here with them, preferably not pissed at him. How would Kravitz and Magnus get along? He wonders, and he’s surprised to find that he really wants to know, would like for them to at least be friendly if not _friends_.

Eventually he sits down on the grass, and Kravitz spreads out his feathered black cloak for them to sit on. He passes Kravitz the open bottle of wine and watches at he drinks from it, head tipped back and exposing the long, dark column of his neck, which just _begs_ to be kissed. Kravitz is dressed less formal than usual tonight, which for him means the sleeves of his dress shirt are rolled up and he isn’t wearing a tie. It’s an incredibly good look on him, and Taako has no shame in taking it all in, just grinning when Kravitz makes eye contact and then ducks his head shyly. He’s caught the guy staring at his bare midriff more than once tonight, so whatever.

“No offense, but this is incredibly bad,” Kravitz laughs, taking another drink before passing the bottle back. “Where did you get this?”

“Stole it from the Fantasy Costco, natch.”

“And you didn’t steal from the top shelf? I’m shocked, frankly.”

“And burn a spell slot to reach it? Please. Anyway, it’s all key lime gogurt to me, my dude.” Kravitz laughs like it’s a joke, and Taako doesn’t correct him, taking a drink. He has, he must admit, been drinking entirely too much since coming back from Refuge, but who can fault him there, he’ll wait for someone else to throw him an intervention before he worries too much about that. “Can you even like, get drunk? Being all dead or whatever, I don’t know how this –” he gestures to Kravitz’s everything, “Whole sitch works, it’s like an illusion right?”

“Um – not quite an illusion, no, more like a sort of construct? Food and drink and sleep aren’t strictly necessary for me, but otherwise everything, ah, functions typically when I’m in this form. And yes, I do get drunk, just not easily.”

“Could you be like, poisoned?”

“ _That_ isn’t at all disconcerting.”

“Theoretically. Throw me a bone here.”

“It’s never come up. I imagine if it did affect me I could change to my skeletal form to negate the effects.”

“Huh.” Taako takes another drink. “Cool, I mean, glad everything, y’know. Functions typically.”

Kravitz snorts and snatches the wine from him, emptying the last of the bottle.

They lie down, the cloak soft underneath them, and Kravitz watches him instead of the stars. The way he looks at Taako is too much sometimes, like his eyes could burn a hole in him, Taako doesn’t know what to do with how it makes him feel, a little embarrassed and proud and in awe all at once, there is only one person who has made him feel this much in a long time and that’s Magnus. Kravitz is beautiful and funny and weird, Taako feels like he can be himself and Kravitz will actually like that, and he wants more than he knows how to name, he wants everything too much.

“D’you ever think about just running away from everything?” Taako asks, not sure if he expects an answer. “Just packing up and getting out.”

Kravitz actually contemplates it, like it isn’t a dumb question. He absently plays with Taako’s hair as they lie there, braiding it and then brushing it out with his fingers until it’s a frizzy mess, but it’s relaxing, familiar somehow. He can’t actually remember anyone braiding his hair, but he’s having déjà vu – it feels important for a moment but when he tries to focus on it the thought turns to static, and then it’s gone.

“Do you not like it here?” Kravitz asks.

“It’s not – just, I've been with the Bureau how long? Like a year now? I've never stayed in one place that long, not even when I was a kid. So it's just weird. I don’t know.” Taako turns on his side to face Kravitz, their faces close, noticing how Kravitz leans into every touch, is so eager to touch him, and he wonders how long it’s been since someone gave the guy a hug.

“That sounds very lonely.”

“I don’t know,” he repeats. He doesn’t have the energy to be clever, and Kravitz has this weird way of making him want to be honest.

“I’ve never really thought about it. I don’t think I could?” Kravitz says. “Even if I wanted to, this life – this job – it’s who I am. Literally. I’m pretty sure I cease to exist if I give up being a reaper.”

“Sounds lonely,” Taako echoes.

“Yes. It often is.”

“I don’t think I’m a very good person,” Taako says miserably, shutting his eyes against a sudden welling of tears, more from exhaustion than anything. He means it, too, he knows he’s selfish. He should end this now, or end it with Magnus, _something._ He takes advantage of people like Magnus. People like Kravitz.

Kravitz takes his hand between them, squeezing it. When he opens his eyes Kravitz is watching him, not with pity, just concern. The starlight makes his eyes glitter. “I think you are.”

“You barely know me.”

“But I want to. And I’ll still like you.”

“Why?”

“Knowing you makes me happy. I like spending time with you.”

“ _Why?_ ” He repeats, though he’s not sure if there’s an answer that he’ll believe, that will satisfy him.

Kravitz nibbles on his bottom lip, and Taako is distracted by thoughts of biting him. “I don’t know, you’re funny, and… and cute, and It’s been a long time since anyone… wanted to do this. With me. And I didn’t know how much I wanted it until I met you.” Kravitz blushes, perhaps realizing how much he’s confessed, he mumbles something Taako doesn’t quite hear and tries to hide his face in his hands, but Taako catches his wrist and pulls it away. Kravitz laughs a little, face still red, and god he’s cute, this is stupid. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Taako says. “Can you warm up your face for me real quick?”

Kravitz blinks in surprise but does it, breathing into his hands before Taako kisses him. His lips are still cold, but Taako feels warm as he brings a hand up to cup Kravitz’s jaw, dragging him closer, and he swears he can feel the planet spinning below them.

* * *

After a couple tranceless nights he actually can’t keep himself awake no matter how hard he tries, passing out on top of his blankets, face in a spellbook. He actually manages to rest for couple of hours before the dreams start, before the fire and the glass and the screams, the screams that he thinks are coming from his dream until he jolts awake and realizes they’re his.

He clamps a hand over his mouth immediately to stop himself, usually he can muffle himself with a pillow before anyone hears, his face is wet with tears as he sits up. He tries to breathe, it shouldn’t be so hard, in, out, in, out, but there’s a weight on his chest and he can’t, he can’t get enough air. The room around him, the very air, is suffocating him, he’s sure of it, he’s sure the fire is going to take him like it took Phandolin –

And sudden light from the doorway blinds him, it’s Magnus, of course it’s Magnus, and he’s already in Taako’s bed, pulling him into his arms, his whole body is big and soft and inviting, no hard angles, Taako burrows into his chest and breathes, finally just breathes.

“You’re safe.” Magnus whispers. “You’re home, you’re home with me.”

“’m sorry,” Taako says, lifting his head so Magnus can hear.

“Shh. You’re fine.”

“No, _I’m sorry_ ,” he insists, he needs him to know. “I didn’t mean any of that shit.”

“I know.” Magnus loosens his vice-grip hold, brushing Taako’s tangled hair from his eyes, there’s no anger there, Magnus doesn’t hold grudges. “I’ll stay here. Try and sleep, ok?”

“Please just kiss me,” Taako says, almost whispers, he knows what he needs but he doesn’t know if it’s okay to ask anymore.

Magnus’s hand stills in his hair for a moment, and Taako holds his breath and waits for him to choose. “What about you and Kravitz?” He asks, no bitterness that Taako can detect, just… asking.

“I don’t know,” Taako mumbles, hiding his face.

“Because if he doesn’t know about – you two have to talk, dude.”

“I promise, but right now just… Please.” They’ll have to talk after, he knows, they will, but he needs this.

Magnus does kiss him then, leaning over Taako, his hands – bigger than Taako’s whole face – cradling the back of his head and tangling carefully in his hair. Taako can feel the wedding ring on his finger, the one he’s carried with him since Julia, and has worn every day since Refuge. Taako sighs relief into his mouth as he melts back into the pillows, letting Magnus choose how this goes, whether they just kiss or go further, with a rare surrender of his carefully constructed control, he doesn’t trust anything the way he trusts this.

* * *

Magnus feels like home. Or what Taako assumes home might be. He’s never stayed in one place long, even the Bureau isn’t permanent, not really, he’s not sure what a home is supposed to feel like. But Magnus is as warm as a fire in the hearth after a long day away, as food waiting on the table, as a favorite blanket, he’s gentle and he’s kind and he deserves better than Taako but chose him anyway. Crazy for a human to feel so permanent when really, Taako will still be a young man when Magnus is in the ground, especially the way they live, but Magnus has been the most stable thing in his life for a long fucking time, even without a name to put to what they are, and Taako can’t imagine life without Magnus there in some capacity, he’s never put the word _love_ to it because it didn’t feel that dramatic, it just seemed natural. When he dares to imagine an _after_ to all of this, to the Bureau and the Relics, he sees them in a house together, maybe, with space for Magnus’s woodshop and a huge kitchen. Then he gags, because that’s so gay and so domestic it’s almost gross.

Can’t give up Magnus. Not even for someone like Kravitz.

Kravitz who is so charming that Taako is inevitably a goner, he can’t not fall a little in love with this bastard with every smile no matter how he tries, and that’s fucking gross, just horrifying, Taako doesn’t _do_ this but here he is. Kravitz who is new and exciting, and who seems to actually, with no ulterior motives, like him. Just wants to spend time with him. Wants to get to know him and actually likes him more the more he learns. How often do you meet one person like that, let alone two, in a lifetime? Taako is blown away by it. He’s terrified. He’s fascinated. He wants it, wants to keep both of them, so fucking much it’s insane, he didn’t know he was so disillusioned with romance until suddenly he has a guy who’s doting on him, who’s _courting_ him, who brings him flowers to put in the vase he made on their first date and was nervous about holding his hand when they walk together because he was worried about it being cold. Kravitz is doing this whole “gentleman” gig, taking things slow, which – cool, Taako can roll with that, it’s adorable actually. Except he’s really accustomed to that whole “boy meets elf, elf suspects he’s catches feelings, elf panics, elf gets drunk and sleeps with boy, boy gets what he was after and doesn’t call again” kind of deal. He just really expected Kravitz to at least try and put his hand down Taako’s pants already, is all, but turns out Death is a tease. Who knew.

It’s a totally different feeling than when he’s with safe, stable Magnus who he just assumed would always be there, different than the strange half-relationship that, despite how long they’ve been doing this, has never been really acknowledged except when Taako climbs into his bed most nights.

Not better, but certainly newer, certainly filling a different niche. And sometimes when he tries to imagine that future house, with the woodshop and the kitchen, he can imagine Kravitz there with them, which? Holy shit, what? They haven’t even said the L-word, calm your gay ass down, Taako.

So. Can’t give up Kravitz, not even for Magnus.

He’s just never seen the _sense_ in limiting yourself to one partner, is the thing, what’s the point when you feel _so much_ for everyone? That thinking was beaten out of him long ago, of course, the way he grew up didn’t allow for much in the way of intimacy. He was an idiot back then, throwing himself into relationship after relationship, he was happiest with multiple partners but it only ever got him hurt, the men Taako tended to like were not the kind who stuck around (and the memory of Sazed’s constant jealousy rises bitter like arsenic in the back of his throat; he shoves it deep down where it can’t touch him.) Eventually he closed himself off from the part that didn’t think it made sense to limit himself to just one love for the rest of his life, resigning himself to one night stands forever. He knows that most people don’t think about love the way he does, most would consider it cheating. He doesn’t see it that way, but it’s a thin line, and communication is all the difference and he’s very, very bad at that.

Kravitz and Magnus aren’t most people. But he doesn’t know how they feel, because he had no idea how to approach that conversation, he hasn’t cared for anyone this much in a long, long time. Any conversation that might conceivably involve the word _love_? Taako’s good out here, thanks, bye. But that isn’t going to work anymore, not if he wants to hold onto two of the most important people in his life.

_Don’t ruin this like you do everything else._

_Don’t fuck this up._

“What are we?” Magnus murmurs into the crook of his neck, and that’s the million gold piece question, isn’t it. His arms are wrapped around Taako’s waist and their legs are tangled together, it’s too hot, but Taako can’t bring himself to move. Taako sighs, taking too long to answer, carding his fingers through Magnus’s hair.

“I don’t know,” he says, because he might as well get used to being honest. Fuck. He hates this, but he would hate to lose Magnus more. “What do you think we are?”

“I’m trying to be serious.”

“Me too, man. Totes serious.”

“You’re my best friend, I think,” Magnus says, and that hits Taako in a way he never expected, knocks the breath right out of him. Best friend. Huh. “I care about you. I don’t want to lose this.”

“Who says anything has to change?”

“No, but it does, you know that. I’m not saying break up with Kravitz, okay, or with me, I never want you to feel, I don’t know, limited or whatever. But I won’t let you keep lying to him either, you have to be able to talk to him about it or we can’t do this.”

“I haven’t lied, for the record. Just… omitted.”

“Same thing.”

“I get it. Real talk. I’ll do it, I promise.”

“Do you want me there when you do?”

Taako shakes his head. This has to be on him.

Magnus is silent so long that Taako thinks he must have fallen asleep, until he speaks up again, “Will you tell me about him? Kravitz, I mean? Dating the Grim Reaper, that’s… intense.”

Taako blinks, that wasn’t what he expected to hear at all. “To put it lightly, yeah. Um… okay,” he laughs, trying to think. “I don’t know. He’s sweet. Like, you’d think he’d be terrifying, but he’s just. _Really_ nice. Oh, and the accent is fake.”

“No fucking way.”

“I’m serious! He puts it on for work, thinks it makes him more intimidating,” Taako cackles. “And, you’ll love this, sometimes if he hears a loud noise he just turns into a skeleton, like, ‘pop’!”

“What a nerd.”

“Guess I have a type.” He nudges Magnus with his elbow, making him laugh, and god that feels good, to laugh with him.

“He treats you right, though? He makes you happy?”

“…Yeah.”

* * *

Taako isn’t at his most eloquent when he talks to Kravitz, stumbling through an explanation, equal parts flippant about what he and Magnus have and needing Kravitz to understand how important it is, because he can’t get himself to be serious about anything, he hates that about himself, but there it is.

“It was going on way before I knew you,” Taako says, anxious about Kravitz’s silence after the fumbled explanation is over. He braids and unbraids his hair about five times through this conversation, just needing something to do with his hands. “It started ‘cause I get these night terrors when I sleep alone -don’t look at me like that, it’s NBD – and then it just turned into more, I guess. And we haven’t. Um. Stopped.  But, I mean, we’re not – it’s not like this, we’re not even dating really, just. Kissing? A lot? And sleeping together? Well not like that – well, sometimes like that – but not for a while – just actually sleeping mostly – you know what, just go ahead and take me to hell now.” He hides his face, groaning. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“You really care for him,” Kravitz says, which isn’t what he expected to hear. Taako peeks through his fingers. Kravtiz doesn’t look mad, confused maybe, but there’s a tenderness in his eyes. Okay. Weird. Just roll with it. He nods, face burning.

“I care for you too, bubbela,” he says quietly, pulling his hands away from his face and hoping that Kravitz knows he’s being as serious as he can be. “Both of you. You know that, right? You know I want this?”

“I know,” Kravtiz answers, and pulls Taako in for a hug and then an icy kiss and despite getting no conclusive answer on what to do next, Taako is eternally grateful that he gets a little break from the real talk. “Um. Do you still want to go to dinner? Like, that won’t be weird?”

“I’d love that,” Taako says, so relieved that Kravitz asked first.

* * *

They come back to the moon that night with a bottle of wine stashed under Kravitz's cloak, smuggled from the Fantasy Olive Garden, laughing like kids as they stumble back through the rift that Kravitz has opened in their shared living room. Magnus is there on the sofa, whittling away at a wooden duck, and he startles when the rift opens up. "Shit! Oh, it's just you guys." he shakes his head and laughs. "Uh, hi Kravitz."

"Magnus," Kravitz nods, and the two just stare at each other for a second.

"Taako!" Taako cackles, a few seconds late for it to be funny instead of awkward hanging off Kravitz's arm, a little drunk, a little anxious about Kravitz and Magnus in the same room, mostly just drunk. "We've all got names."

He catches Magnus and Kravitz exchanging an amused look.

"We were going to listen to the fantasy radio - would you like to join us? There’s an orchestra playing that I just adore, but we couldn’t get tickets," Kravitz says, a little hesitant, a little awkward - but he's trying. This wasn’t planned – the orchestra, yes, but not Magnus being here - but Taako can roll with it.

"We've got more wiiine," Taako sings, taking the bottle and waving it in Magnus's face as he flops down in the middle of the couch, jostling Magnus, who quickly sets his carving tools on the table in front of them.

"Oh, uh, you sure? I can go, if you two need space or... Whatever."

He doesn’t want to go, though, to be left out, Taako can tell, and he's very determined to let Magnus that he isn’t ashamed of him. Which is tough, they've left everything unspoken for so long, but he's going to do better damn it. "Nooo, Mags, stayyy." he whines. He remembers something and flaps a hand at Kravitz excitedly. “Krav, Magnus plays music too.”

That makes Kravitz’s eyes light up. He comes to sit down on the other side of Taako, accepting the open bottle of wine as it’s passed to him. Taako quickly casts Mage Hand, grabbing a few cups from the kitchen, they don’t have wine glasses so Kravitz ends up with an ugly Candlenights mug, Magnus with one that inexplicably says _World’s Best Dad_ that he’s pretty sure Merle bought, weird, but whatever. His spectral hand doesn’t have to coordination to pick up a third mug so he ends up drinking out of the bottle, fine by him.

“Do you really?” Kravitz asks. “What do you play?”

“Oh, yeah – a little guitar, you know,” Magnus shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s been a bit.”

They tune stone of farspeech tuned to a frequency that's playing this gorgeous classical arrangement, cellos and piano and horns, Taako doesn’t know much about music so he can’t add much to the conversation but Kravitz seems to love it, fingers absently conducting in the air as he and Magnus chat about bards they admire. It helps, Magnus relaxes, still carving his duck as he and Kravitz talk. They're getting along really well, actually, and Taako sends a little silent thanks to Istus.

The moment feels fragile, and Taako wonders how far he can go before it all breaks. Before he fucks it up. But he's warm and drunk and happy right now, between his favorite people in the world, so he doesn’t think about it much before he sort of slides down, spreading out on the couch, his head in Kravitz's lap and his legs draped across Magnus. He feels the fighter stiffen under him.

"This cool?" he murmurs, eyes closed, wriggling a little to get comfortable, butt ending up flush against Magnus's hip, head pillowed on Kravitz's thigh, the fabric of the reaper's slacks silky on his cheek.

"...Yeah," Magnus says after a moment of silence, relaxing again, and his big, warm hand comes to rest on Taako's thigh, squeezing ever so gently. "Yeah, it’s good."

"Absolutely," Kravitz says, voice lower than usual, _interesting._ Taako hums happily, nuzzling Kravitz's thigh. Kravitz runs his hand through Taako's hair, fingernails gently scratching at his scalp, the cold of it making Taako shiver, and this might be his heaven, just this, wine in his belly and music on the fantasy radio, caught between two beautiful boys.

He dozes off after a little bit, but startles himself awake with the sudden visceral fear that Merle is going to come in and think he can join this cuddle pile, which, no, absolutely not, but luckily his fears are unfounded, the cleric is nowhere to be seen. The music has ended, the stone of farspeech silent on the table in front of them. He keeps his eyes closed, hoping to drift back off until Kravitz, silent for a little while, says to Magnus, “We ought to have a chat, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Taako has… spoken to me about your relationship.”

Taako stiffens. Shit. They think he’s asleep. Should he let them know he’s awake? Fuck. He screws his eyes shut, keeping his breath even.

“Good, I wasn’t sure he would, he hardly talks to _me_ about it.” Magnus makes a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. “Look, I just want Taako to be happy, that’s it. And if that’s not with me…”

“But you do make him happy,” Kravitz says. “Which I want, of course, which makes everything much more complicated.”

“Tell me about it. So, wait, I’m really confused. You aren’t going to kill me or whatever?”

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” Kravitz’s hands are still in Taako’s hair, he’s been absently braiding and unbraiding pieces of it all night, it’s going to be a mess in the morning but Taako doesn’t stop him. “By all rights I suppose I should have been hurt. And I was, but not… for the right reasons. Not because he’s with you, but because he didn’t think he could tell me about it right away. But at the same time, Taako isn’t doing anything because he wants to hurt us, is he? He told me about this because he does care, about both of us, because he didn’t want to hurt me by keeping any secrets anymore. And I couldn’t be upset, because that’s incredible, isn’t it? He acts so irreverent, but he cares so deeply. So how could I ever ask him to give you up?” Kravitz gives a shaky laugh. “I don’t want him to lose what you have, but I don’t want to lose him either.”

“Then I guess we’re on the same page. Sounds like you really care about him, too.”

“So terribly much. I’ve never met anyone like him, he’s... amazing.” Kravitz sounds breathless, and he laughs a little, nervously.

“Yeah. Yeah, he is.” Magnus’s hand is still on Taako’s leg, and he squeezes it lightly. “He’s dealt with a lot of shitty people, glad you aren’t one of them.”

Silence again, Taako holds his breath, because if he doesn’t he’s not sure if he’ll laugh or cry at what he’s hearing. The way they talk about him, like he’s something precious, something that matters.

“I used to think love was this – like, you find one person, and they’re the one for you and there’s no one else,” Magnus says after a while. “Because my wife, Julia – she was everything to me, right? She’s still everything to me, I still wear our wedding ring. I’m so in love with her, and for a while I thought, well, that’s it, that was my chance and I lost it. But now there’s Taako, and – it’s not what me and Julia had, nothing can replace her, I don’t want him to. But I do love him. I don’t know if he loves me, but I love him, and I still love Julia, so – I guess I’m saying that now I think you can love two people, if they’re the right person. And maybe they’ll be different kinds of love, but it’s still love. I don’t know, maybe that’s stupid. Just trying to say – I think I sort of get what Taako is dealing with right now. And I don’t resent what you guys have going on.”

“I don’t think it’s stupid at all,” Kravtiz says softly. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For helping me understand. You’re a good man, Magnus.”

Taako’s eyes and throat burn but he doesn’t let himself cry, he breathes steadily, tries to keep it together, he doesn’t know if he’s panicking, or happy, or a little of both, and what he fixates on is that Magnus doesn’t know how Taako feels about him. Because Taako has never put a name to this. Because he regulated it to the early hours of the morning like it’s a dirty secret he was keeping, because he was too afraid feeling so much, afraid of losing what they had, of fucking it up.

It’s not long before Kravitz has to leave, “waking” Taako up with a kiss on the forehead before he goes, Taako tries playfully to get him to stay, to lure him into his room, but Kravitz is too good a guy, damn him, and won’t stay when they’re both intoxicated. What a fucking gentleman. Then Magnus is off to get ready for bed. Taako stays on the couch a while longer, thinking hard, before he goes to join him. Everything Kravitz said was sweet to hear, but ultimately unsatisfying, he still doesn’t know where Kravitz fits into all of this or what he wants, really. But that, he can’t solve until tomorrow.

“I like him,” Magnus says when Taako comes into his room.

“Hm?” Taako slips out of his shirt and pants, into a shirt of Magnus’s that goes almost to his knees.

“Kravitz, I really like him. He’s – he treats you good.”

“Magnus Burnsides, is that a blush I see? You little harlot.” Taako kisses Magnus once on the nose, and then again on the lips, and Magnus comes away grinning.

“So I think he’s cute, whatever, don’t you make fun of me.”

The very idea of Magnus and Kravitz kissing is one that distracts and delights Taako for entirely too long, he nearly forgets what he came here to say. As they slip under the covers, before Taako can come to his senses, he kisses Magnus’s freckled shoulder and says in elvish, like it’s a secret, “I love you, too.”

Magnus goes very still, and then relaxes like a weight has been lifted from his chest, and he pulls Taako close and kisses him hard.

* * *

It almost feels like nothing has changed, except Taako gets up the nerve to kiss Magnus goodbye right there in the kitchen before he leaves for training with Killian that morning, in the daytime, and it’s terrifying, and he loves him, loves him, loves him.

”I’m going to talk to Kravitz again tonight,” He says, hand on Magnus’s cheek, this is different in the daylight, but it’s a good different, he thinks. They had talked for a long time last night, worked out how Kravitz fit in to this whole thing, how they can make it happen and all be comfortable, and he’s nervous about it all but feels better, to his surprise, for talking about it. Steadier on his feet. “Get this figured out for good. We can make it work.”

“Do you want me there?”

Taako shakes his head. “You’re busy, I can handle it. Go get buff, stud.”

Kravitz is surprised to hear from him again so soon but he doesn't question it, doesn’t mention the conversation with Magnus - but he holds Taako’s hand all night, buys him dinner and they kiss under the moon dome, starlight glittering down on them and Taako is sure he’s under some kind of spell, that if he breathes wrong this is going to shatter all around him like most good things have in his life.

But it doesn’t have to. Things seem good, maybe they’re all on the same page, maybe he can make this work, he’s been thinking about what to say to Kravitz all night. When Kravitz walks him back to his room he knows he can't put this off, even if his heart is pounding when he closes the door behind them. Kravitz tilts his head to the side, watching him, waiting and leaning on the door. Okay. He can do this, remembers how much better he’d felt after talking it all over with Magnus, it will suck at first but he’ll make it through, he's startled to realize he trusts Kravitz not to hurt him, or at least not to be cruel, which is frankly more than he thinks he deserves.

"So, I just wanted to put this right out there," Taako says, trying his best to keep eye contact, but all he wants is to stare at the ground. His ears droop like a sad puppy. "Like, in the interest of honesty or whatever, because I don’t want to keep secrets from you."

"Alright."

"Last night, I wasn’t asleep. When you talked to Magnus. Heard the whole thing. So, uh, sorry for eavesdropping, thanks for saying nice shit about me even when you thought I couldn't hear it?"

Kravitz laughs sheepishly, ducking his head. "Well. Thank you for telling me. I planned on telling you what we discussed, I was just waiting for a good time."

"I figured."

“Taako, I… I can’t say that I wasn’t hurt that you didn’t tell me about him right away. That you felt I wouldn’t be open to that. But I’m not hurt anymore. Magnus is a good man, and I… I can see that he makes you happy.”

“He is. He does.” Taako takes a deep breath, steeling himself, and says, voice breaking, "I told him I love him."

Kravitz goes still for a moment, fuck, maybe this was a shitty idea, Taako starts rambling, "And I wanted you to know that, no secrets, right, and - fuck, because I care for you so much, and I want this, but Magnus is my family and I can't - if you ask me to choose, Krav, I don't want to choose, but it would have to be him. But I think - no, I fucking _know_ we could make this work, you and me and him. But we don’t know what you want, or that’s even something you’re willing to try. I need to know for sure before we do anything else.”

He feels like he’s put himself on a platter for Kravitz’s taking, like he’s naked in front of him, _here I am, all of me, please be gentle._

Kravitz answers by pulling him into a kiss, messy and hard and cold, breathing "Yes" onto Taako's lips and it feels like he's going to burst with how much he feels, and Kravitz is smiling, “Yes."

“Yes?” Taako laughs, unexpected tears prickling at his eyes.

“Yes. If this is what you want, then I want to try. I can't promise it will be easy but - yes. Yes." He peppers Taako's face with kisses between every word and Taako laughs again, yes, yes.

He presses close to Kravitz, presses him up against the door, their kisses getting longer and deeper, Kravitz’s hands settling low on his hips and pulling him in even tighter, he can feel Kravitz getting hard, Taako’s body heat warming him up, and when Taako rolls his hips up Kravitz groans, pressing his face into the crook of Taako’s neck.

That gets his attention. “Yeah?” He grinds up against him again, experimenting, he knows Kravitz has wanted to take things slow but actually, fuck that. Kravitz’s only answer is to bite into the soft, sensitive skin of Taako’s neck, a little harder than expected and Taako can’t help it, he lets out a low moan, broken by a laugh, “Knew you were a freak, fuckin’ goth ass vampire over here – “

“Oh, shut up,” Kravitz laughs, breath puffing over the spot where he was biting and sucking and making Taako shiver, squeezing Taako’s hips as they slowly grind together, and it’s good, but it’s not quite enough. Taako drops down to the floor, popping open the buttons on Kravitz’s shirt as he goes, kissing down his chest, looking up all the while through heavy-lidded eyes, and Kravitz never breaks eye contact with him, it’s almost too much. He goes down to his knees and rubs an open palm up the bulge in Kravitz’s pants before he tugs them down, takes a moment to appreciate the fact that he’s seeing Kravitz naked - well, mostly, his shirt is still on but that’s kind of hot – for the first time, his cock hard and dark and gorgeous. He looks up at Kravitz and grins at the look on his face, how his lips are parted as he waits for Taako to act. Taako presses an almost chaste kiss to the side of it before he takes Kravitz into his mouth, it’s cold like the rest of him but his mouth warms it up fast.

Kravitz gasps, “Oh, fuck,” his hips jerking forward, but Taako holds them to the door, taking him in deep until his nose almost touches the other man’s belly and then pulling back. Kravitz’s hands come up to tangle in Taako’s hair, pulling just a little, and he moans a little around him at the light sting of it, delighting in how it makes Kravitz shudder.

“This is – _ah_ – not how I planned on this going,” Kravitz laughs breathlessly, his head hitting the door behind him with a soft thump. With one hand Taako fumbles with the button on his pants, tugging them down with his underwear and touching himself. “Was going, _oh_ , was going to have… music, or something…”

Taako pulls off with a pop, his jaw aching, he takes over with his hand for a while, slick and messy and he loves it, he feels powerful and vulnerable all at once here on his knees, Kravitz is such a mighty creature and yet Taako can do this to him, reduce him to babbling. “Bet you wrote a whole composition for it, nerd,” he says, kissing and nibbling at the inside of Kravitz’s thighs, his senses overwhelmed by him, smell and taste and touch.

“S-started to,” Kravitz manages, Taako presses his face into that space where Kravitz’s leg meets his hip and laughs, “and candles, there were – definitely supposed to be candles.”

“We’ll have candles,” he promises, they have all the time in the world for that romantic crap, he bites harder and Kravitz twitches in his hand, so close already, he speeds up, squeezes harder, learning what makes him moan, what makes him grind his hips up into Taako’s hands seeking more. His hands have gone slack in Taako’s hair and that won’t do, Taako pushes his head back into them. “Did I say to stop?”

“Bossy,” but he pulls again, harder this time, and Taako grins. “Was gonna make - fuck, Taako – make you feel so…”

“You do.” He takes Kravitz back into his mouth and moans as he comes, hands fisting hard in his hair, keeps working him until the reaper’s legs are shaking, and as he sits back Kravitz sinks down to the floor, pulling Taako into a sloppy kiss, all teeth and tongue as he takes Taako’s cock in his hand, and Taako is so embarrassingly close already, he comes crying out into Kravitz’s mouth and never stops kissing him, mouth sore and red.

He laughs as they come down, breathing slowing back to normal, can’t help but laugh at the sight of them, pants around their ankles on the floor, luckily Kravitz is laughing too, the two of them are a wreck, but Kravitz is still here, still wants him and everything that entails, and that’s all he cares about.

He absolutely does not let Kravitz go home that night. They clean up, he lends Kravitz pajamas and wraps him in his warmest blanket so they can cuddle without Taako freezing to death. Neither of them technically need sleep, and Taako doesn’t want to yet, doesn’t want to miss out on any of this feeling, like he’s floating. They lay together on Taako’s  bed, foreheads touching, talking and kissing for hours, and Taako can’t remember the last time he smiled this much, his face hurts from it.

Magnus comes home from his training after dark, and Taako can hear him moving through the dorm, loud but familiar like home. Eventually he cracks open the door to Taako’s room, seeing the light still on, and peeks in. Taako lifts his head, his hair messy from Kravitz’s hands tangling in it, smiling lazily. “Hey, big guy,” he says, quiet though no one is asleep.

“Hi,” Magnus says. His eyes settle on Kravitz, wrapped up in a blanket like a burrito, and he smiles. He steps into the room, closing the door behind him. “So I’m guessing things went well.”

“I would say so,” Kravitz says, sounding a little shy as he burrows further into Taako’s side. Taako kisses his cheek and then looks back to Magnus, who is hovering by the door, a little nervous, they all are. Taako pats the bed, raising his eyebrows, and after a moment Magnus sits down, his weight making the bed dip. Taako leans in and kisses him, and he can feel Kravitz’s eyes on them, but the reaper is still holding his hand, and when Taako glances down at him he’s smiling, and he finally knows that all of this will be okay.

“Hey,” Magnus murmurs, pulling away for a moment. “I know it was tough for you, talking about all of this.”

“Yeah, cause feelings are dumb,” Taako says, and beside him Kravitz snickers.

“I’m just saying, thanks. For working so hard. It means a lot to me, and I love you.” Magnus smiles, so earnestly that Taako actually melts a little, holy shit.

“You were right, he is a sap,” Kravitz says.

“Super gross, right?”

“I think it’s cute.” And hell if Kravitz isn’t making eyes at Magnus now, _I’m dying,_ Taako thinks, _I’m dead, or dreaming, this is not my life,_ but here he is. “A nice break from _your_ sarcasm.”

“Alright, alright,” Magnus says, holding up his hands in surrender. “Feelings talk is officially over.”

“Oh thank _god,_ I thought it would never end!” Taako flops back down on the bed dramatically, only for Magnus to poke him in the side at his most ticklish spot, and he shrieks and squirms closer to Kravitz. “Cut it out or you don’t get any pancakes.”

“You cook?” Kravitz asks, surprised.

“Any bozo can cook pancakes, Kravitz.”

Magnus touches him on the shoulder, his smile fading into concern, “You sure, man?”

He smiles with a confidence he doesn’t quite feel, throwing off the covers and climbing out of bed. Tonight of all nights he can do this, nothing can touch him, and he’d have to be a pretty shitty chef to poison pancakes. Taking a deep breath, he says, “I’ll make those cinnamon ones you like, and then you two are gonna cuddle the shit out of me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you see typos, I did edit a lot but I didn't get a beta so bear with me. 
> 
> come at me on tumblr @androidsfighting I guess i'm a TAZ blog now
> 
> (I see negativity toward Taako/Magnus a lot on tumblr, don't know if it's leaked over here, but I am just not interested in that kind of discourse please and thanks. Taakitz is my main ship but hey, Taako has two hands!)


End file.
